The Career Clinic Podcast
Host: Ronnie Dickerson Stewart
Welcome to Week Three of The Career Clinic Podcast January Intensive Series.
In Episode 87, we continue this week's focus on voice, visibility, and connection by going deeper into what Ronnie calls Executive-Level Visibility — the kind of visibility that creates provision, optionality, and stability in an increasingly uncertain and shifting professional landscape.
This episode reframes visibility as more than posting online or being "seen." Ronnie explores visibility as a strategic asset — one that ensures your name is in the room (even when you aren't), your value is understood by decision-makers, and your career currency remains spendable through transitions, restructures, and market shifts.
✔️ Why your work has never truly "spoken for itself" — and what actually does
✔️ The difference between default visibility and designed visibility
✔️ Why visibility is a form of career provision and protection
✔️ How internal and external visibility work together
✔️ What career currency is — and how visibility makes it usable
✔️ The real reasons high-performing leaders avoid visibility
✔️ Practical steps to intentionally curate executive-level visibility
Ronnie introduces a powerful reframe: visibility is not about attention — it's about access.
Access to:
Opportunities you didn't know existed
Advocacy when you're not in the room
Agency to choose what's next instead of waiting to be chosen
Protection during restructures, freezes, or leadership compression
In today's hybrid, distributed, and increasingly parasocial work environment, decisions about your career are often made by people who don't interact with you regularly — if at all. Visibility ensures your impact is understood beyond proximity.
This episode introduces a critical distinction:
Default Visibility
Based on title, tenure, company brand, or proximity
Passive and circumstantial
Fragile during disruption
Designed Visibility
Intentional, strategic, and aligned with your goals
Curated by you
Sustainable through change, transition, and market shifts
Ronnie challenges listeners to ask honestly:
Am I visible by default — or am I designing my visibility?
Many leaders assume internal visibility will "take care of itself." This episode names why that's risky.
Internal visibility includes:
Being known by skip-level and senior leaders
Cross-functional partners understanding your strategic value
Decision-makers being able to articulate why your work matters
Ronnie explains how leaders can be beloved by their teams yet invisible three levels up — and why that gap often shows up during promotions, restructures, and succession conversations.
External visibility ensures opportunity is not dependent on your current employer.
This includes:
Industry reputation
Recruiters, boards, and partners knowing your name
Being associated with a point of view or expertise
Creating mobility, leverage, and choice
The magic isn't either/or — it's both internal and external visibility working together.
Ronnie introduces the concept of career currency — the trust, expertise, results, relationships, and impact you've been building for years.
The key insight:
Currency only has value if people know you have it.
Without visibility:
Your expertise can't be converted
Your impact remains invisible
Your receipts go unused
Visibility is what makes your currency spendable.
Ronnie names the most common blockers:
It feels self-promotional
You're too busy doing the work to talk about the work
You don't know where to start or what to say
Social platforms feel performative or inauthentic
The reframe: visibility isn't about ego — it's about stewardship.
Stewardship of your work, your people, your ideas, and your future.
1. Audit Your Current Visibility
Who knows you?
Who knows what you do?
Where are the gaps?
2. Define What Visibility Needs to Get You
Promotion? Mobility? Protection? Options? Clarity here drives strategy.
3. Build Internal Visibility Intentionally
Get in front of decision-makers
Translate work into business impact
Cultivate skip-level relationships
Use internal channels thoughtfully
Document and share wins strategically
4. Build External Visibility Selectively
Choose a reach/frequency model that fits your goals and capacity.
One platform. One practice. Consistency over volume.
5. Make Visibility Routine, Not a Project
Small, weekly actions compound. Systems create sustainability.
Choose one:
Connect with one internal stakeholder
Share one insight publicly
Raise your hand for one opportunity
Do not overthink it. Do not wait for perfect timing.
Tomorrow's episode continues Week Three with a conversation on Networking vs. Not Working — and why many leaders unintentionally limit opportunity through how they network.
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Visibility isn't about being louder.
It's about ensuring your impact is known, valued, and protected.
You've earned your currency.
Now make it usable.
I'll see you tomorrow. 🤎
